My great grandfathers old straight

Hi

I've just been given my great grandfathers (possibly even great great grandfathers) old straight razor. It's an old Joseph Rodgers, but that's all I know. Can some clever person help me ID it further? There don't seem to be any helpful stamps there. It needs a bit of work done, but I was really wondering whether I could just get away with having the blade resharpened, rather than a complete restoration? It's not something I feel comfortable doing myself - at least not for an heirloom piece like this. Ideally I want to shave with it myself, but at this stage can't afford to spend much money at all. What are your thoughts?

Richard

Congrats on the score! I don't know much about Joseph Rodgers' history but that razor will be an excellent shaver. It doesn't need much work at all. The right progression of sandpaper will do wonders.

Whoa!! Awesome razor. Those look like ivory scales too. Can't tell 100% but from the age of the razor it looks like it.

Aquanin said:

Whoa!! Awesome razor. Those look like ivory scales too. Can't tell 100% but from the age of the razor it looks like it.

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That's the first thing I thought too.

Your grandfather had excellent taste.

You can certainly shave with it in its current condition. Agreed with ivory scales.

What else do you want to know about it? The blade looks like it has more written on it than just "Joseph Rodgers". It is probably labeled "Sheffield", which would make it an English blade. There is a year (late 1800's, I think, someone else will know the exact year; 1895-ish) when manufacturers were required to put the country of origin on their stuff. So, if it actually says "England" then it was made after that date, otherwise, it was made before. There is a little information for you, anyway.

It looks like it wouldn't need very much work at all to be a good shaver. The blade could use a little polishing and, I'm sure, a good honing. Look on the inside of the scales and make sure there is no rot or anything. Otherwise, there are some guys on here (who will probably pipe up soon) who could have that thing looking/shaving great for you without too much effort. Those guys will probably also provide you some manufacturer information on Joseph Rogers.

Here is a little Joseph Rodger info for you.

He has good taste!

Thanks for all the replies. In terms of further info, the thing I'm most interested to find out is a possible date, so I can figure out how many generations it has been in the family.

I'm really struggling to find anyone in New Zealand to hone this up for me - does anyone have any leads? Failing that, can you suggest someone international who will do an excellent job at a reasonable price?

Cheers
Richard

More advice please...! I think I've found someone in NZ to sharpen it. Or at least they say they can - on something called a lynishing belt. Does that sound normal to you? It's nothing I have heard of before.

rapperley said:

More advice please...! I think I've found someone in NZ to sharpen it. Or at least they say they can - on something called a lynishing belt. Does that sound normal to you? It's nothing I have heard of before.

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No that doesn't sound like a good idea for a straight razor.
here is what they look like, definitely not the norm for honing straight razors
link

There is a fellow in Australia that goes by Jimbo on Straightrazorplace.com and theshaveden.com. I have seen him offer to hone razors before, may be worth a look. He also made some strops out of Kangaroo leather, you will need a strop anyways see if he has any left for sale.

Good luck.